In this podcast interview with manager Amy Svancara (Swan-sarah), you’ll learn the story behind the European-style bistro located in downtown Boise’s historic Idanha Building. From its start as a bakery just three years ago, La Vie en Rose has expanded its menu to include breakfasts and lunches that deliver the “linger effect” that make it a place where people love to connect as well as dine.

It’s safe to say that by the time this interview is over, a London Bleu Frittata with cheesy hashbrowns is going to sound mighty appealing — no matter what hour of the day you’re listening!

La Vie en Rose is located in the Idanha Building in downtown Boise at 928 West Main Street.  For information, call (208) 331-4045

In addition to describing the menu in tantalizing detail, Mathieu brings us up to date on some other activities going on at Le Cafe de Paris. Just in time for the restaurant’s 8th anniversary…a wine club. Mathieu will explain.

To learn more about Le Cafe de Paris, read their profile on Behind the Menu.

The Cucina di Paolo Reuben

In this, the first in our series “Where’s Reuben”, we sit down to enjoy this sandwich classic with a veritable neophyte: Behind the Menu follower, Amanda Joy Wight — hence our episode title (our apologies to Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan).

As one of the reuben venues identified by our followers, Cucina di Paolo was the location for this Be Our Guest encounter. In addition to Amanda sharing her “first time” (blush), we’ll hear Mary Jean and Paul Wegner describe how they pay omage to an icon. As you’ll learn, it’s something of a culinary trans-gender approach, fortified with a big ol’ dollop of love.

Ladies and gentlemen, secure your napkins and prepare to tuck in.

Chef Paul Faucher and Mathieu Choux of Le Cafe de Paris

The world premiere of the new Twilight movie? Beyotch…please! How can you possibly compare fuel injected hormone-driven teen angst to the arrival of a new beaujolais? And at Le Cafe de Paris, we’re going to celebrate that premiere in the only appropriate way: with a multi-course French dinner.

In this podcast, Le Cafe de Paris owner Mathieu Choux and head chef Paul Faucher talk about the Beaujolais Nouveau tradition, and discuss their November 19 celebratory feast in mouth watering detail. Don’t listen to this podcast if you’re already hungry. Or at least don’t hold me responsible if you do.

Moon's Guinness Milkshake

Moon’s Kitchen Cafe owner, Bob Dempsey, reveals the splendor that is the Guinness Milkshake. We doubt that Martha Moon could ever have imagined this being on the menu when she started serving breakfast in her dad’s fishing and hunting shop back in the ’50s in downtown Boise, Idaho.

Warning: this milkshake is not for the faint of heart. But if you love ice cream, Guinness Stout, and John Steinbeck, this may be just the cure for bumping your shins up against the hard surface your Calvinist work ethic…especially if you have one at 11 am, as I did in this Behind the Menu Drive By Moment.

We should mention that Bob also serves up a mean Apple Pie Milkshake for the teetotalers among you…or those who simply can’t bring themselves to mixing ice cream, chocolate sauce, malt, and fermented grain beverages.

At Life’s Kitchen, however, the kitchen is also a place where kids whose lives can benefit from a clearer sense of direction and the acquisition of job skills come to discover a sustainable career path.

In this podcast episode we’ll visit with Life’s Kitchen executive director, Kurt Alderman and student Andrew Settler to learn about the history and mission of Life’s Kitchen — and about what it’s serving up on Wednesdays through Fridays.

Life’s Kitchen is located at 1025 S. Capitol Blvd. in Boise, across from Boise State University. The Cafe is open Wednesday through Friday from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm and features a varying menu.  To contact Life’s Kitchen, call (208) 331-0199 or go to their website at www.lifeskitchen.org

Hawaiian cuisine was “fusion” before fusion was hip.  Michael Mohica, the owner of Ono’s Hawaiian Café and Kanak Attack Catering, learned that truth a long, long time ago from his grandmother.

I spent a part of my youth in San Jose, and during those years my favorite neighbors were the Ragasas, a family of Filipino origins who came to California from Hawaii.  It was “Uncle Al” and “Auntie Liz” who first introduced me to the cuisine of their laid back, hang loose, multicultural island heritage.  At their annual backyard luaus, which included a whole pig slow-cooked in a covered pit, I learned a truth that I’ve only now been able to express: Hawaiian cuisine was “fusion” before fusion was hip.  Michael Mohica, the owner of Ono’s Hawaiian Café and Kanak Attack Catering, learned that truth a long, long time ago from his grandmother.

Michael came to Boise from Oahu in fall 1998 at the tail end of a cross-country trip to check out the strange ways of the mainland, and to find a culinary school to his liking.  It just so happened that his brother worked at Micron, and as if the fates had planned his itinerary, he had the good fortune of seeing Boise in all its fall splendor.  Goodbye Waikiki, hello City of Trees.  It also didn’t hurt that Michael was impressed with Boise State’s Culinary Arts program.

After graduation, Michael set about his mission of bringing the wonders of Island Fare to the benighted “haoles” (Hawaiian slang for us mainland “crackers”) of Idaho.  In 2001 he started his catering enterprise, Kanak Attack (another slang term meaning “eating so much that you want to take a nap” – think Thanksgiving and you get the idea), and it wasn’t too many special event gigs before throngs of believers were lined up at his catering rig and asking him where his restaurant was located…and expressing disappointment over his answer that they were standing in front of it.

All that changed seven years later when Michael opened Ono’s Hawaiian Café on Broadway, in what had previously been Berryhill’s (we used to joke about Berryhill’s being located in Rubber Alley – behind a Firestone tire dealer and a condom shop – get it?  Man, I love that pun!).

Michael firmly believes that Hawaiian food goes beyond an eclectic mash up of culinary cultures.  It’s a genre.  “I’m drawing on a tradition of what we call ‘plate lunches’ in Hawaii – a mix of different ethnic foods that includes Asian, Spanish, Filipino, Japanese, and Korean, as well as Polynesian.

While you might expect most chefs to tell you that they were born to cook, Michael is the only one I’ve talked to in years who has actually said just that.  “I was raised in a kitchen cooking with my grandmother, who taught me everything I know about cooking.”  And what he learned, he brings to Ono’s.  “It’s the things I remember seeing, the flavors I remember, the things I grew up with.  It’s in my heart, in everything I do.”

Michael firmly believes that Hawaiian food goes beyond an eclectic mash up of culinary cultures.  It’s a genre.  “I’m drawing on a tradition of what we call ‘plate lunches’ in Hawaii – a mix of different ethnic foods that includes Asian, Spanish, Filipino, Japanese, and Korean, as well as Polynesian.”  That mix shows up in a number of Ono’s signature dishes.

Let’s start with Michael’s teriyaki steak (courtesy of our very own Snake River Farms), sliced thin and marinated in teriyaki (duh!), quickly grilled and served with coconut infused rice and macaroni salad (a traditional side dish in Hawaii).  Or how about Ono’s chicken katsu, a Hawaiian fusion take on a traditional Japanese dish of breaded chicken breast, deep fried and served with a fruit-based tonkatsu sauce.  And then there’s the kimchee shrimp: Hawaiian shrimp sautéed in Korean pickled cabbage.  Some like it hot.

And all this doesn’t even get into the presentation factor around Michael Mohica’s dishes.  Those aren’t tears of joy, brah.  That’s your eyeballs salivating!

Along with the star of the show, Kalua Pig, is a supporting cast of other traditional luau favorites: homemade sweet rolls, Filipino lumpia, kalbi (a sweet, spicy Korean fried chicken), seafood dishes with bold Korean sauces, beefsteak steamed in taro leaf, a house salad and tropical fruit salad.  Did I mention dessert?

If you really want to pick up on what Ono’s is putting down, island style, you need to show up on a Friday for a buffet lunch or dinner.  It’s the closest you’ll get to a luau, short of Uncle Al’s place in East San Jo, homs.  In fact, for Michael Mohica, it’s the next best thing to having you over to his backyard.  No surprise here, but the centerpiece is Ono’s kalua pig.  Close your eyes and listen to the gentle sounds of the surf in the background as Michael whispers in your ear, “it’s just as you would find it in someone’s backyard, cooked for 12 to18 hours, seasoned only with salt and pepper.  It’s the smokiness and steam that keeps it moist and flavorful; it falls off the bone.”  Michael, you had me at “slow cooked”.

Along with the star of the show is a supporting cast of other traditional luau favorites: homemade sweet rolls, Filipino lumpia, kalbi (a sweet, spicy Korean fried chicken), seafood dishes with bold Korean sauces, beefsteak steamed in taro leaf, a house salad and tropical fruit salad.  Did I mention dessert?  There’s halpia, a Hawaiian coconut pudding, and pineapple upside down cake, to mention just two (check out the display case at the counter as you walk into the restaurant).

On Friday nights, throw in Hawaiian dancing and the incomparable ukulele stylings of “Uncle Herbs”, and you get a bit of the island ambiance that Michael wants to deliver along with the food.  “I want to create a destination for people who have been to Hawaii and remember how great the flavors are,” says Michael.

In the Hollywood version of the Ono’s Hawaiian Cafe story, Michael Mohica brings his grandmother to Boise to join him once again in the kitchen.  His kitchen.  Reality, however, is less sentimental.  Michael’s grandmother passed away last year; but not before she’d seen photographs of her grandson’s dream come true.  I know she must have been proud.  Sadly, Uncle Al passed away last year as well, but I’m equally certain that if he’d ever made it to Boise, he’d have felt right at home in Michael Mohica’s backyard.

Ono Hawaiian Cafe is located at 2170 Broadway Ave., Boise.  Restaurant hours are Monday – Thursday, 11 am to 9 pm, and Fridays and Saturdays from 11 am to 10 pm.  You can contact Ono’s at 208-429-6800, or learn more about its menu and catering services by visiting www.onocafe.net

“Traditional French food isn’t flambé, fancy reductions, or rich sauces – it’s really about simplicity and bringing out the maximum flavor of food with minimum waste.”

A man whose last name, translated into English, means “cabbage” can probably be counted on to know something about food. And after seven years of treating the City of Trees to an appreciation of French cuisine gleaned from four generations of restaurateurs from the Burgundy region of France, it’s safe to say that Mathieu Choux (pronounced “shoe”), owner of Le Café de Paris, has lived up to not only his food-related name, but his family legacy as well.

Mathieu’s culinary mission since opening Le Café de Paris in 2002 can best be described as challenging his customers’ perceptions of French cuisine. “Traditional French food isn’t flambé, fancy reductions, or rich sauces – it’s really about simplicity and bringing out the maximum flavor of food with minimum waste.”

Based on this approach, Le Café de Paris follows the model of a French bistro rather than the more “hoity-toity” stereotype that Americans often have of a classic French restaurant. As Mathieu explains, “What I’m trying to do is casual French food. What I do at Café de Paris is mix three things to fit in the same place – a bakery, bar, and a restaurant. We try to do a nice presentation with our food, but it’s not overdone. Good food doesn’t have to be all fancied up.”

Spend a day at Le Café de Paris and you’ll understand what Mathieu means. We could start with a simple breakfast of espresso and a butter sugar crepe (served with fresh fruit and lemon) with a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice. For lunch we might indulge in a croque-monsieur, a sandwich consisting of ham, swiss cheese, and béchamel sauce on fresh-baked country bread. Or we could show a bit more restraint and have a Salade Nicoise: seared tuna with hard-boiled duck egg, avocado, and kalamata olives with a golden balsamic vinaigrette.

As for its legendary pastries and baked goods, let’s just save that for another Behind the Menu installment, shall we? I’ll simply leave you with three words: tarte aux pommes.

You’d be thankful for any restraint you mustered during lunch when you arrive back for dinner. I might suggest starting off with a hors-d’oeuvre of proscuitto-wrapped shrimp with a spinach salad, followed by creamy tomato basil soup (although it’s hard to pass on the classic French onion). I’d throw caution to the wind with my entrée and order the confit d’canard, a pan-fried duck leg with sautéed fingerling potatoes and pan-seared apples – then I’d linger over whatever wine selection Mathieu had suggested with my meal and one of a number of cheeses on the menu.

As for its legendary pastries and baked goods, let’s just save that for another Behind the Menu installment, shall we? I’ll simply leave you with three words: tarte aux pommes. Sure, you might know it as “apple pie”, but like everything else on the menu at Les Café de Paris, come prepared to redefine your perceptions about great food.

Café de Paris is located at 204 N. Capitol Blvd. in downtown Boise. For table reservations, call (208) 336-0889. You can drool over the breakfast, lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch menus by visiting www.lecafedeparis.com

There have been only a handful of owners of the restaurant that since 1955 has served a cross section of downtown denizens ranging from sportsmen to legislators to skateboarders; but its most recent proprietors, Bob Dempsey and wife Lisa Kugel, are determined that even though their historic café has since changed its downtown address, its menu and place in the community will return to their former glory.

For Bob, a native of New Jersey whose background in construction and real estate included builds and tenant improvements for hundreds of restaurants, acquiring Moon’s Cafe represented an opportunity to be the consummate bon vivant, eagerly entertaining friends and delving into favorite recipes from the mother of all kitchens.  Lisa, whose family had been in the restaurant business for years, took a more hard-headed approach: “You have to be an idealist to be in this business,” she says, “but you also have to be stubborn enough to keep on top of it.”

Given the differences in their perspectives about the restaurant business, it should come as no surprise that when Bob approached his wife about fulfilling his long time fantasy of becoming a restaurant owner, she was less than bowled over by the idea.  Nevertheless, they began looking at available opportunities, and when Moon’s went on the market, they knew that their restaurant had found them.  “It fit our personas,” Lisa says.  “It was down-to-earth and a part of the history of this valley – and that’s what we were looking for.”

While taking over a going business avoids a lot of start up costs and attendant headaches, acquiring Moon’s was anything but a slam-dunk.  “We knew that the old location on Bannock wasn’t going to work for what we wanted to do,” says Lisa, “but moving from Moon’s 1961 location was scary.  A lot of people wanted Moon’s to stay the same, but we had to make a lot of changes to get the restaurant back to what it had once been: a place where the community could hang out and enjoy great comfort food.”

One of the first things Bob and Lisa did was to hire Derrick Meyer and his wife Tracy.  Like Bob, Derrick had also done time swinging a hammer.  But while he grew up a carpenter’s son, his first love was cooking.  That love led him to culinary school in San Francisco as well as restaurant and resort gigs in California and Lake Tahoe.  He eventually went back into construction, but when Bob and Lisa acquired Moon’s they convinced Derrick to come back to the kitchen…and to bring his wife (whom Derrick had met in a restaurant) along as general manager.

For Lisa Kugel, the lure of Moon’s Café was more than just its potential as a business opportunity.  “We looked at everything from a bar to a French restaurant, but we wanted a place that was more ‘blue collar’.  Moon’s has always been a part of the Boise tapestry, and if you grew up in this town you probably ate here at some point or another – and maybe bought your fishing supplies or ammo as well.  We just kept hearing people say ‘this is part of my childhood’, and the idea of serving so many different kinds of people really appealed to us.”

Originally, Moon’s just served breakfast to what was already a “captive audience” of hunters and fisher folk.  It was Martha Moon-Nelson, the daughter of founders Bernie and Cecelia Moon, who first installed the breakfast counter at the sporting goods store as a way of bringing in a little extra income for her and her family.  In time the café extended its hours to include lunch, and it soon became a favorite haunt of Idaho legislators, both because of its proximity to the Statehouse and the quality of its grub.

The first order of business for Bob and Lisa was to return the Moon’s menu back to its roots as a “comfort food headquarters” for breakfast and lunch – and this menu would have to be based on “home scratch cooking”.  “We go through sacks of flour in making our own pancake and biscuit batter,” says Bob.  “We roast our own meats and chop our own vegetables – hardly anything is pre-made.”

The current menu at Moon’s Café is a combination of breakfast and lunch traditions and “new stuff”.  Breakfast classics include “manhole size” pancakes, homemade buttermilk biscuits and gravy, and a wide variety of omelets – all of which redefine the term “large portions”.  Derrick Meyer takes particular pride in the quality of his hollandaise sauce, and recommends the spicy version that adorns his spicy chicken benedict (two strips of bacon, chicken breast, and a Siracha hot sauce-infused hollandaise).

And if you think you know from corned beef hash, think again.  There’s a reason Bob calls the Moon’s version a “signature dish”.  “It’s a steamy, cheesy, meaty, gooey pile of goodness – all natural and fresh.  It’s great stuff.”  Comfort food is also the order of the day on Moon’s lunch menu, which includes hot beef and hot turkey sandwiches with mashed potatoes and gravy.  Signature lunch dishes include the Colossal Rueben (imagine an extra layer of turkey breast) and a Mile High Club that Bob describes as “three sandwiches in one”.  And of course, there is the Moon Burger and the “world famous milkshakes” from Derrick’s boyhood.  Lisa wants to make sure that Moon’s does right by its vegetarian customers as well.  “We’re looking into more vegan dishes and we have a vegetarian menu that we’ll be introducing soon.”

As important as its menu is to Moon’s relationship with its hometown, Lisa wants this relationship to go beyond filling the tummies of workers, families, state senators, and local street bohemians.  “I want to redefine our relationship with Boise.  We felt that some of the spirit of Moon’s had been lost over the years, and we wanted to bring that spirit back,” says Lisa.  “But we knew that in 2009 it wouldn’t be based on guns and fishing tackle, so we are reaching out to musicians, songwriters and other artists to make local arts our community focal point.  I lean toward people who may not have an opportunity to show their work in other venues.”

On the day of my interview with Bob and Lisa, Moon’s culinary mission had just received an endorsement more meaningful than any four star review: the blessing of Martha Moon, who had just stopped by to take stock of the latest incarnation of the restaurant that still bears her name.  Lisa was pleased to report, “She was really happy to see that we had taken over the place and were doing what we were with the menu, which was back to what she had originally done.”

In the course of their conversation with Martha, she rectified a long-held myth concerning the origin of the café’s counter.  An earlier story was that it came from Woolworth’s, but Martha explained that it was actually from a grocery store that had gone out of the business.  The counter had originally been several check cashing stands that Martha had put together to create one long counter.  For Lisa, restoring the origins of her restaurant counter seems like an apt metaphor for her and her husband’s larger mission: restoring a local culinary icon to its rightful place in the hearts and tummies of the City of Trees.